The Beat

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Formed March 1979.

UK ska band aka The English Beat

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Radcliffe and Maconie |   BBC 6 Music

Ranking Roger from The Beat speaks to Stuart Maconie

Stuart Maconie chats to Ranking Roger of The Beat about the group's tours and reissues.

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Biography

The Beat (known in North America as The English Beat and Australia as The British Beat) are a 2 Tone ska revival band founded in Birmingham, England in 1978. Their songs fuse ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock, and their lyrics deal with themes of love, unity and sociopolitical topics.

The Beat, consisting of Dave Wakeling (vocals, guitar), Ranking Roger (vocals), Andy Cox (guitar), David Steele (bass), Everett Morton (drums), and Saxa (saxophone), released three studio albums in the early 1980s: I Just Can't Stop It (1980), Wha'ppen? (1981) and Special Beat Service (1982), and a string of singles, including "Mirror in the Bathroom", "Too Nice To Talk To", "Can't Get Used To Losing You", "Hands off She's Mine" and "All Out To Get You".

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Latest Tracks Played on the BBC

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